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PROCEEDINGS 



MEETING OF CITIZENS OF OHIO, 



in Hcmovg 



ffiofi^cnop io|tt iScougl, 



WASHINGTON, D. C, 



-A.TJC3-TJST SO, 1865. 



WASHINGTON, D. C: 

PiiiU' i Solomons, I'lintera and Storootypera. 

1865. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



Pursuant to notice, a large number of Ohiaans con- 
vened Wednesday evening, August 30, 1865, at the 
rooms of the Ohio State Military Agency, 250 F street, 
Washington, D. C, for the purpose of expressing their 
sorrow at the death of the lamented Chief Magistrate 
of the State of Ohio, John Brough. 

Among the distinguished persons present were the 
Hon. S. P. Chase, Chief Justice of the United States 
Supreme Court ; Hon. Wm. Dennison, Postmaster 
General ; Hon. D. K. Cartter, Judge of the Supreme 
Court for the District of Columbia ; Hon. R. W. Tay- 
lor, First Comptroller of the Treasury; ex-Lieut. Gov. 
Thomas Ford ; Hon. Messrs. A. G. Eiddlc, J. J. 
Coombs, and John Hutchins, late members of Congress 
from Ohio ; Brig. Generals McGroarty, Anson McCook, 
Ludlow, and Guild ; Col. Maxwell, commanding 194th 
Ohio Vols.; Col. G. J. Young, late Private Secretary to 
Governor Tod ; Lt. Col. Hood, Surgeon U. S. V.; Lt. 
Col. David Taylor, and H. A. Hutchins, additional Pay- 
masters U. S. A.; Rev. B. F. Morris ; A. M. Gangewer, 
Esq., Acting Third Auditor of the Treasury ; Edwin 



L. Stanton, Esq., son and Private Secretary to the 
Secretary of War ; James C. Wetmore, Esq., Ohio 
State Military Agent, &c., &c. 

At eight o'clock Mr. Wetmore called the meeting to 
order, and made a few appropriate remarks ; after 
which Chief Justice Chase was escorted to the chair, 
and spoke as follows : 

It is known to you ull, gentlemen, for what object we have assem- 
bled here this evening. We have received the distressing intelligence 
of the death of the honored Chief Magistrate of our State, and we 
have come together to express our respect, and our honor, and our 
gratitude toward him. His history is a part of the history of our 
State. He couiuienced life, as you know, as an ardent, active poli- 
tician, a member of the Democratic party j and it was from that party 
that he received his first distinguished office — that of Auditor of the 
State of Ohio. In the exercise of that office, at a very critical period 
in the history of the State, it became his duty to interpose, and he did 
interpose, with great decision and with great independence, for the 
safety of the finances and of the credit of the State. He did his duty 
on that occasion in such a manner as to command the warmest appro- 
bation of those who were opposed to him politically, while he incurred 
the displeasure of a portion — but only of a portion — of his own party. 

He afterward retired to private life, and for several years was an 
editor of one of the leading Democratic papers of Ohio, devoting him- 
self earnestly and zealously to the maintenance of his political senti- 
ments, and of what he believed to be the best interests of the State 
He saw fit, however, to retire from that position, and to identify him- 
self with the business interests of the State and country; and in this 
new relation his brilliant abilities shone with unexpected lustre. He 
proved himself, iu every business relation, as energetic, as thorough, 
as faithful, as he bad shown himself in public office. It was from the 
midst of eminent success in these business relations that he was called 
to be the Union candidate for Governor. He had never suft'ered his 



political attachments to interfere with what he believed to be his 
duties to the State, nor did hi' allow any tie, either of private interest 
or politics, to interfere with his devotion to the interests of the whole 
country. He was, as all who are here and who have heard him knuw, 
one of the most brilliant orators of the land. He gave his eloquence, 
his time, and his exertions to the defence of the principles then rep- 
resented by our lamented President — the union of these States and 
the suppression of the rebellion ; and such was the confidence mani- 
fested in him that he was elected to the honorable position which he 
has held with such distinguished ability by an unprecedented majority 
of a hundred thousand votes. How well he has borne himself in that 
position you all are fully aware. No man in the whole country has 
exerted himself more zealously, more perseveringly, more eft'ectively, 
I may say, for the suppression of the rebellion, than he did as Gov- 
ernor of Ohio. 

There is one circumstance that I never fail to recall when speaking 
of Governor Brough, which impressed me profoundly at the time, 
and which will never fade from my remembrance. He was here when 
General Grant commenced his movement against Richmond last year. 
His clear intelligence discerned at once the absolute necessity of 
giving to General Grant all the force that could be spared from every 
other service. The fortifications around this city, and in various parts 
of the country, were then manned by some of the best troops of the 
army, (veterans,) whose services were needed in the field, and Gov- 
ernor Brouoii originated — 1 am not sure upon that point, but I think 
he originated — the idea of calling into the field one hundred thousand 
volunteers, to serve for one hundred days, in order that the troops in 
garrison might be relieved, and sent to the aid of General Grant. I 
do not think it is too much to say that this action was indispen- 
sable at that time, and certainly to no man more conspicuously or 
more completely than to Governor Brougii is due the prai.se of its 
conception and execution. No citizen of Ohio, when he looks back 
upon the events of 1864, can help feeling a thrill of pride when he 
remembers that forty thousand of her citizen soldiers, the brave volun- 
teers of the national guard, not required by any law, but on the simple 



6 

call of their honored President and honored Governor, came forward 
to the service of their country, relieving that number of veterans, and 
enabling them to go into the field. Nor was that all. Some of these 
hundred-day volunteers were put forward in the thickest of the fight, 
and never disgraced their Governor or their State. They bore them- 
selves with honor, as all our Ohio boys did. But for Governor 
Brouqh, those forty thousand men would not have been here, and 
that great aid to General Grant could not have been afforded. 

I do not know that the result would not have been the same ; but I 
do know that it was the courage, the prompt perception, the energetic 
action, the bold, resolute, patriotic spirit of John Brough which in- 
sured victory to General Grant. 

We owe him a great debt of gratitude. God has so ordered it that 
we can only pay it by honors to his memory. 

We can no longer manifest our regard by our support or our friend- 
ship ; but we can lay the laurel leaf upon his tomb, and water it with 
the tears of our gratitude. 

On motion of Col. Young, 

Mr. Wetmore was appointed Secretary. 

It was then moved by ex-Gov. Dennison, that a 
Committee of six be appointed by the Chair, to draft 
Resohitions expressive of the sentiments of those pres- 
ent ; when the following gentlemen were named : 

Ex-Gov. Dennison, Judge Cartter, Judge Coombs, 
Hon. A. G. Riddle, Hon. R. W. Tayler, and Whitelaw 
Reid, Esq. 

During the absence of the Committee, the Hon. John 
Hutchins spoke as follows : 

]\Ir. President and Fellow-Citizens: I did not expect to be 
called upon to make any remarks on this occasion ; but I can say most 
decidedly, that I fully concur in every word which has been uttered 



by our distinguished Chairman in regard to Governor Biiotoii. My 
first impressions of Governor Bbouqii were derived when he was a 
Democratic politician on the stump. I tliought then, and I think so now, 
that Governor BllouGii was one of the ablest political speakers that 
Ohio has ever produced — one of the most efi'ective ; a thorough man 
to discuss political questions upon elementary principles. 

1 remeiiiber well the impressions which he made on my mind, 
although not very old at the time, when he was Auditor of the Stato 
of Ohio; and i think 1 may safely say, that although we have had 
some able and efficient Auditors, Ohio has never had an abler one 
than John Brough. He saved the credit of the State when it was in 
imminent peril; and but for him, with the tendencies of the party with 
which he was then associated and connected, 1 have always thought 
the State was in very great danger of being disgraced. But he saved 
the §tate, by his energy and ability, from disgrace and from repudia- 
tion in any form or shape. 

But what, more than anything else perhaps, endeared Governor 
Brough to the people, was the noble stand he took in relation to the 
war for sustaining the Government, about the time and before he was 
nominated for Governor of Ohio. Those of us in Ohio who witnessed 
the canvass and heard his bold speeches during that political campaign, 
know full well that it was in part owing to that ability which he mani- 
fested, and the thorough loyalty which he evinced in those speeches, 
that Oliio was enabled to consign, I hope, to an eternal political 
grave, one of its ignoble men — Vallandigham. It was through his 
influence, in part, that we were enabled to do this; and the nation 
and the State, for this, owe Governor Brough a debt of gratitude. 

In reference to his military administration of the Government, our 
Chairman has remarked, that Governor Brough was the originator of 
the services of the one-hundred-day men, as they are called. At all 
events, he was one of the originators, and one of the most efficient 
means which produced a result which relieved our army and afford- 
ed us help when we needed it. It was owing to his influence and 
energy that the patriotism of the State took practical form in the 
immediate organization of 40,OU0 men for active service ; no man nqt 



8 

in the military service stands before this nation more prominently in 
the suppression of the rebellion than Governor Brough ; and tbis meet- 
ing is only a fitting mode of expression of the gratitude which we owe 
to him, and which we should pay to his memory; for we can now only 
honor his memory for the noble deeds which he has accomplished. 

I have but given expression to the feelings called up on this sad 
occasion. I regard our lamented Governor as one of the purest and 
ablest men that our State has produced ; and as such it is right that 
we should drop a tear upon his grave in remembrance of his noble 
deeds. 

At the conclusion of Mr. Hutchins's address, Mr. 
Wetmore made the following brief remarks : 

>Ir. Chairman and Gentlemen : There is one point which the 
gentlemen who have preceded me have not touched upon, and that is in 
regard to Governor Brough's relations "with the soldiers. I, perhaps, 
am better able to give information on that point than most any one 
present. I can testify most sincerely that Governor Brough had an 
earnest and tender regard for everybody in the field. No father could 
be more regardful of his children than was Governor Brough of the 
soldiers. It was my privilege to receive from him, almost weekly let- 
ters of admonition and direction in regard to preparations for the care 
of our men in the field and in hospital. As I have said, no father 
could direct more careful and more tender epistles in regard to his 
children in danger, than did Governor Brough to me on those occa- 
sions. 

It was my fortune to have under my direction the distribution of 
the Sanitary supplies from this city down the Atlantic coast. Gover- 
nor Brough seemed to carry perfectly in his mind the position of 
every division and every regiment, and under his direction men were 
sent to anticipate the wants of the army in those places. He not only 
directed these things to be done, but he gave me, as he did others, a 
carte hlanchc to do everything necessary for the soldiers' good, having, 
of course, a due regard to the expenditure of the public money. But 



at no time did he withhold ouo dolhir, il' it could contribute to the 
rclicl' and comfort of a sick or wounded soldier, lie not only did this, 
but he kept the people of Ohio alive to the wants of the soldiers, by 
his calls through the Ohio press for Sanitary supplies; and I would 
add, Mr. Chairman, my testimony to the fact, that he was as true a 
friend to those who were fighting our battles as any man could be. 

The following letters from Brevet Major General B. 
W. Brice, Paymaster General U. S. A., and Brigadier 
General Mussey, the President's Military Secretary, 
were read by the Secretary : 

War Department, 

Paymaster Cieneral's Office, 
Au^u.'it 30, 18G5 — 4 o'clock, P. M. 

My Dear Sir : I fully designed to be present this evening, and 
participate with my fellow-citizens of Ohio in giving appropriate ex- 
pression to the sentiments of sorrow pervading the minds of all the 
truly loyal of our State at the death of her late distinguished Gover- 
nor Brough. I need not refer to the zealous and patriotic services of 
the deceased, as the Executive head of a great State during the recent 
terrible and momentous civil war, from which the country has just 
emerged. 

These will be appropriately noticed by members of your meeting, 
gentlemen of Ohio, of exalted distinction in the land. 

I very much regret that indisposition, aggravated by arduous and 

perplexing official duties, down to this hour of the evening, admonish 

me to repair to my home in the country for quiet and rest. 

Respectfully, &c., 

B. W. BKICE. 
J. C. Wet.more, Esq. 

Washington, August 30, 1865 — P. M. 
My Dear Mr. Wetmore : I am compelled to be absent to-night 
from the meeting of the Ohioans. 

Our loss, though felt by the whole nation, will be more keenly ap- 
2 



10 

predated by the citizens of that State whose honor he held so dear, 
and whose name his energy, honesty, and patriotism did so very much 
to augment and adorn. 

We have no longer his living, daily example to shape our lives by ; 
but we have the memory of his wisdom, his faithfulness, and his loy- 
alty, to encourage and inspirit us in our attempts to do the duties de- 
volved upon us. 

It is reason of thankfulness that his life was spared till the rebellion 
was crushed ; that he was not taken from us till the peace for which 
he labored so strenuously and so well had come ; and when our nation 
makes up the roll of those who aided her in her extremity, and who, 
though they fell, triumphed, not the least conspicuous will be the 
name of John Brough. 

Truly yours, R. D. MUSSEY. 

The committee on resolutions reported, through Mr. 
Whitelaw Reid, the following :. 

Resolved, 1st, That we, the citizens of Ohio now residing in Wash- 
ington, receive with profound sorrow the sad intelligence of the death 
of our honored fellow-citizen, John Brough, late Governor of Ohio. 

2d. That while wc gratefully remember his distinguished services 
to our State in the various positions he was successively called to oc- 
cupy; and especially those by which, when Auditor of the State, he 
sustained her credit, protected her honor, and secured her prosperity; 
we cannot but recall with peculiar sensibility those which he has more 
lately rendered, rather to the Nation than to the State, and in the 
midst of which his life found its honorable close. 

3d. That it is with almost exultant grief that we bear our testimony 
to the patriotism with which, when the Country was in danger, he 
broke the bonds of party and of interest; to the eloquence which he 
consecrated to Union and Freedom ; to the sagacity with which he 
saw the need at the front for every man then in the fortifications to 
insure the success of Grant's movement upon Richmond, and to the 
tireless energy with which he hurried forward to the National Capital 



11 

the tens of thousautls of hundred-day volunteers, whose presence made 
that indispensable reinforcement practicable. 

4th. That in the midst of our sorrow we rejoice that it was his priv- 
ilege to contribute so largely to the rescue of the Republic and of free 
institutions from the violence of rebellion ; and his happiness to know 
that when, as his last public act, he welcomed home Ohio's returning 
veterans, the country he loved was safe, with all her safeguards of 
Liberty and Unity stronger and more perfect than ever. 

5th. That the officers of this meeting transmit a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the family of the deceased Chief Magistrate of our State, 
with the assurances of our most respectful and most aflfectionate sym- 
pathy ; and also a copy to the Executive of the State, 

Ex-Governor Dennison moved the adoption of the 
resolutions, and, in doing so, said : 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : I may be permitted to add a 
word in regard to the character of the deceased. My acquaintance 
with Governor Brough commenced while he was Auditor of our 
State. I had known him previously as a public character, and as a 
prominent member of the political party with which he was associated. 
I had heard him during the canvass of 1840 ; and while I had no 
sympathy with the cause he advocated, and desired the defeat of his 
political friends, his eloquence extorted my admiration. In the winter 
of 1841-42 I became a resident of the city of Columbus, and was then 
brought into personal relationship with Governor Brough. From 
that time to the hour of his death our relations and intercourse were 
uniformly of the most friendly character, and it gives me great 
pleasure to say to those who share the sympathy we all feel, that I 
never found him other than strictly honest and upright. 

You have adverted, Mr. Chairman, to his official connection with 
our State as Auditor. It has fallen to the lot of few public officers to 
so impress himself upon the public mind, and secure so large a share 
of the public confidence, as was the fortune of Mr. Brough while 
Auditor of the State of Ohio. Nor was this accidental. It may not 



12 

be in the memory of some of the younger citizens of the State who 
are present, that the year 1842 was the gloomy year in the financial 
history of Ohio. No previous one or since has equalled it in the 
anxiety that was then universal throughout the State in regard to its 
finances. Et may not be uninteresting to advert for a moment to the 
cause of this. It is well known to you that, in the year 1842, most of 
the charters of the banks of Ohio were about expiring by their own 
limitation. As a result, the banks were preparing to close up their 
aifairs, causing serious apprehensions among the people as to what 
would be the condition of the State after the banks should close. 
Added to this, and of graver moment, was the fact of the State being 
then under a large debt, accruing out of the construction of the public 
works, of which a considerable portion were unfinished, and conse- 
quently unproductive of revenue to aid in meeting the interest on the 
debt, while those that were finished did not yield sufficient to meet 
the interest on the cost of construction. These two causes combined, 
together with others to which I need not advert, made that a year of 
trial and of anxiety to the people of Ohio. The Auditor, as you are 
aware, is the fiscal officer of the State. The duty then devolved on 
Governor Brouoh, as Auditor, to devise ways and means of meeting 
the accruing debt of the State. He could have accomplished this 
without, it may be, any very extraordinary efi"ort, if there had not 
been another evil intervening even more alarming than that to which 
I have referred. It was, I^Ir. Chairman, the threatening spirit of re- 
pudiation in Ohio. For while it is true, and well may we rejoice that 
it is true, that no considerable portion of the people of Ohio ever 
favored the repudiation of their faith, history tells us that, in the year 
1842, there were prominent leaders of the party to which Governor 
Brough belonged who did favor the repudiation of the public debt. 
This was to be done, not by any direct action of the Legislature, as by 
the passage of a formal resolution declaring that the people of Ohio 
would not pay their honest debts, but by indirection, in withholding 
from the Auditor of State the power conferred upon him by the law 
of 1825, under which the public works in Ohio Were built, and which 
authorized him to make such an assessment of the property of the 



13 

State as would yield, in addition to the other revenues, sufficient to 
meet the interest on the public debt. 

When Ohio couimenced her public works, in 1^2"), she did so 
almost unknown as a State, not only to the capitalists of Europe, but 
to those of the Eastern States. It is true, she had a large territory, 
great resources, an honest, industrious and thrifty people ; but she 
was unknown as a State that had the means of meeting any large 
debt she might contract. What we now call State bonds were then 
almost unknown to the country. The Government of the TTnited States 
had borrowed money on bonds, but few of the States had done so ; and 
when it became necessary for Ohio, in order to construct her public 
works, to borrow money, so little did the capitalists of the East know 
of her resources, that it was suggested to the Commissioners who 
undertook that mission, that it would be well to have a clause inserted 
in the law authorizing the loan, empowering the Auditor of the State 
to make provision for the payment of the public debt ; which was done 
in the act of 1825, authorizing that officer, after he had estimated the 
amount of revenues upon the tax duplicate, to levy an additional per- 
centage, sufficient, with the revenues, to meet the debt. 

The repudiation of the public faith then was sought in an attempt 
on the part of certain politicians to deny to the Auditor the power of 
making that levy. Had Mr. Brougu been less honest, or less resolute, 
he might have yielded to this conspiracy against the public credit of 
Ohio, carried on under the sanction of his political friends. But he 
made no such concession. As he saw the condition of the army and 
needs of the country, when he called out the one-hundred-day men ; 
so, looking to the safety of his State, he was in instant and unyielding 
■opposition to the cabal determined to destroy her credit. lie went to 
New York, and immediately issued a circular addressed to the holders 
of the State stocks, in which he charged upon these parties in the 
Legislature the deliberate attempt to repudiate the faith of the State, 
but declared that the people of Ohio, would not sanction their machi- 
nations, but would faithfully meet all their public obligations; which 
timely and manly assurance confirmed the public confidence in the 



14 

iutcgrity of th6 State, and defeated the conspiracy against its good 
name. 

As an illustration of the condition of things at that time, I mention 
what is well known to you, that some of the State bonds were sold as 
low as fifty cents on the dollar, and might not even have commanded 
that low rate, had not Mr. Alfred Kelly, whose name should be 
honored by every citizen of Ohio, put his individual endorsement on 
the bonds, to give them credit in New York. 

May 1 not trul> say, 3Ir. Chairman, that Mr. Brough's noble efforts 
to sustain the faith of the State, at this critical period of its history, 
have forever endeared his memory to the people of Ohio. 

Nor did Governor Brough's valuable services as Auditor of the 
State even rest there. I may be allowed to advert to another of the 
distinguished features of his financial administration. You are aware 
that prior to 1842 there was no proper system of taxation in Ohio. 
Before that year, assessments were made without any uniform rule, but 
according to the whim or caprice of the assessor. Governor Brough 
saw the i ecessity of a radical change of the system, and he then 
announced, as the only just principle of taxation, that which has since 
been incorporated in the financial policy of Ohio — that of assessing all 
property according to its true value in money; to which is justly 
attributable much of the financial prosperity of the State. 

Passing from these matters, to which I have adverted partly 
because they are interesting as history, and partly because I deemed 
their consideration would interest the younger citizens of the State 
present, I may only add, that they illustrate the same qualities 
of mind and character which have since distinguished Governor 
Brougii in the higher position occupied by him as Chief Magistrate 
of our State. The same incorruptible honesty, the same indomitable 
energy, the same unyielding will, that displayed themselves in his 
earlier public career, have been conspicuously exhibited in his later 
years; so much so, that they are now recognized and appreciated 
throughout the country. 

It is very gratifying, my friends, when we come to pay the last 



15 

tribute of respect to a public character so eminent as (lovornor 
Buoufili, to be able to say of him, that even in the most heated party 
canvass — he being one of the leaders — not a word was ever said against 
his integrity by the most bitter of his opponents. Governor Brouoh 
goes to his last home, in the public judgment, an honest man. What 
higher eulogy can be pronounced upon him ? 

As a railroad manager, ]Mr. Buouon was distinguished for the same 
high qualities of administration that marke 1 his career as Auditor and 
Governor of the State ; and it is not too much to say, that he enjoyed 
the universal respect and confidence of the railroad community of the 
country. 

The Chairman has adverted to other facts in the history of Governor 
Brough. With him and with you all, I feel that not only our State, 
but the country, has suffered a great loss in his death. 

Let us imitate his virtues. Let us, whether in private or public 
life, always remember, that the faithful discharge of duty, and honesty 
of purpose and of conduct, is the best assurance of the regard and 
affection of our fellow-citizens while living, and the most honorable 
epitaph to our memory when dead. 

When ex-Governor Dennison had concluded, Judge 
Cartter arose, and with much emotion said : 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : It seems very much like pro- 
fanity for a man to undertake, without deliberation, to speak of his 
friend after his death ; and still 1 will presume to say a lew words. 

It has beeu my pleasure to be politically and intimately associated 
with Governor Brough for over twenty-five years. I have accom- 
panied him in his political deliberations, and believe I am advised 
of the purpose that actuated his political life -, and if there was an 
honest man in political sentiment, the decedent was truly one. He 
rose above the ordinary artifices which were regarded as honorable and 
allowable in the political conflicts of our State, while his ambition was 
fixed on distinction. 1 concur iu all that has beeu said of his ability. 
I wish to add the conviction of my judgment, that he rose higher than 



16 

the voluntary estimate that has heen placed upon him by the Chair- 
man. In the death of Governor Brougii, my judgment is, that our 
State has buried the most efficient intellect that she has had upon her 
theatre in the last quarter of a century. In most regards he was the 
peer of the best; in many regards superior to any of the distinguished 
gentlemen that I have ever known in our State. He was eloquent, it 
has justly been said; but his was not the eloquence of manner, it was 
not the melody of voice, it was not the grace of gesticulation — for he 
treated these all with contempt or disi*egard — it was the eloquence of 
voluminous thought, that he conceived by intuition, and poured out 
upon his audieuce irresistibly, that was the great characteristic of his 
oratory. His magazine was always full, and it was its fulness that 
commanded the attention of his audience. In this regard he was the 
most irresistible popular speaker that I ever listened to. He was a 
most difficult antagonist. 

Patriotism was another excellency of Governor Brough's character; 
and during this terrible rebellion through which our country has just 
passed, he never for a moment doubted the ultimate triumph of the 
country's cause. It was that spirit of confidence that he carried in his 
conviction and manifested in his intercourse, that inspired the patriot- 
ism of the people as minute-men. They rallied to the relief of this 
capital— and I may be permitted here to remark, that it is well that 
this lamentation should go forth from the capital that he has been 
instrumental, to a great extent, in saving. His devoted patriotism 
dift'used itself over the face of our entire State, where it met with a 
ready response from its patriotic people. 

But he is dead, sir. It was my privilege to see him upon his death- 
bed. Even while death was upon him remotely — for death respected 
his great intellect, and began to devour him in the extremities — his 
mind was upon the country and all its interests. While death was 
gnawing away at his feet, he was contemplating our country's trials, 
and the process by which she might come safely through them. He 
is dead, so far as this life is concerned; but he had a glorious death. 
He had lived through the period which had marked the transition of 
our great State I'rom a forest to ^its present eminence ; he had seen 



17 

constructed all our canals and railroads, and our school-houses and 
churches erected, and our population increased to millions; he had 
seen her fields yield their golden harvests during half a century ; he 
had seen her emancipated from the political thraldoms she had in- 
herited from the East, and which she cast off as she became enlight- 
ened ; he had seen her honored with the confidence of a great people ; 
he had seen this nation, which he revered, pass through a great trial 
and come out triumphant, and he laid down, with the victory of the 
nation for a winding-sheet. 

At the close of Judge Cartter's remarks the resolu- 
tions were unanimously adopted, with the following 
additional resolution, separately offered by Mr. Pen- 
field, of Cleveland : 

Resolved, That we are impressed with the Divine providence in 
sparing Governor Brough's life and services to the State and nation 
till the period of the extinguishment of the great rebellion. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

JAMES C. WETMORE, 

Secretary. 



The following is from Col. Thomas M. Vincent, 
Assistant Adjutant General of the United States 
Army : 

Washington, D C, August 31, 1865. 
J. C. Wetmore, Esq., Washington, D. C. 

My Dear Sir : Your note of yesterday, respecting the late dis- 
tinguished Governor of our State, did not reach me until this morn- 
ing ; and I regret that illness yesterday confined me to my residence, 
thus preventing me from attending the meeting last evening. 



18 

The record of the late Governor Brough is a part of that of our 
country, now saved. Good and great men everywhere will love, in 
common with the citizens of Ohio, to do honor to his memory. All 
will be saddened at his loss ; particularly so at this time, when the 
new era is dawning on the restored authority of our Government. He 
contributed greatly to this ; we would have had him spared to see the 
more complete developments of his labors. 

Very truly yours, THOMAS M. VINCENT. 



The following correspondence arose in transmit- 
ting a copy of the proceedings of the meeting to the 
Governor of Ohio : 

Washington, September 8, 1865. 

My Dear Sir : It has been made my duty to transmit to you a copy 
of the proceedings of a recent meeting of citizens of Ohio, convened 
in this city to express the mingled sentiments of grief and gratitude 
with which the intelligence of the death of our late Governor filled 
their hearts; grief, because of the great loss and sore bereave ii,ent; 
gratitude, that he was spared until he had seen the auspicious issue of 
his labors, watchings, and anxieties, in the assured salvation of the 
land he loved, from the rebellion he abhorred. 

It is a sad duty which I perform. In John Brough we have lost 
a useful citizen, a sincere patriot, a faithful friend, a great statesman, 
an honored and beloved Chief Magistrate. Our only consolation, little 
felt in the first moments of anguish, but sure to come though slow, is 
in the memory of his honorable work, in the observation of its benifi- 
cent results and influences, and in the hopes of the hereafter. 

I have the honor to be, sir, with very great respect and esteem, yours 

most truly, 

S. P. CHASE. 
His Excellency Charles Anderson, 

Governor of the State of Ohio. 



19 

The State op Ohio, Executive Department, 

Columbus, September 12, 1865. 
To his Excellency Salmon P. Chase, 

Chief J^istice U. S. A. : 

Sir : A press of the gravest duties has prevented me from replying 
before to your admirable letter of the 8th inst., enclosing a copy of the 
proceedings of the recent meeting of citizens of Ohio, convened at 
Washington, in solemn respect to the memory of our late Governor, 
John Brough, deceased. 

The resolutions and remarks passed and made on that occasion, most 
justly deliniate his character and most fitly declare the public loss. 
And certainly they do constitute a memorial to his honor, of which his 
surviving friends and family may well be proud through life. 

Your own letter, too, (let me add) is a most simple and truthful ex- 
pression of the public calamity from his death, and of the patriot's 
grief for the nation's misfortune. 

For myself, I fully believe that the entire surface of our State, in ita 
whole mass of citizens, neither held nor could claim one whose de- 
parture could have created such a vacuum 

Nor can I think (as is so frequent in funeral eulogiums) that the 
unusual emotions of private grief, or the accustomed liberality of pos- 
thumous praises have, in this case, at all transcended the actual worth 
of the departed. 

He was a man of such sharp and clear perceptions, of such retentive 
memory, such rapid powers, as well in the analysis of facts as in the 
generalizations of deduction, and yet had with all such a sobriety of 
patience and judgment in all his deliberations, (which it must be ad- 
mitted seldom appertain to quick minds,) that he can only be classed 
with the very first intellects of our nation. 

I make no account of his powers as an orator. For although he was 
a great orator, and in the highest and best sense too, yet in this view 
I make but a trivial estimate of oratory. It seems to me that on serious 
occasions, it is as a thinker and doer and not as a speaker, that we 
should consider men. 



20 

And then, too, in his moral nature, and in those portions of his 
duties which grew out of it, how grandly did his love and practice of 
truth, justice, honesty, and manly Courage, in and for the right, with 
their kindred virtues, exalt him above — altogether above — that whole 
herd of the " vulgar great" — of able minds without principle. As, 
however, I would not willingly lapse into formal eulogy, I forbear with 
the addition of a single thought. 

If you, who are absent from the State, thus think and feel concern- 
ing this, our great loss, what must be my meditations and emotions, 
here and now, whilst occupying (^alas ! not filling) his seat ? Almost 
every hour is thrusting painfully upon me as a dark shadow, its remem- 
brance of that vanished Power, with (its close companion) the sad con- 
sciousness of this Weakness in its vacant place. 

I have the honor to be your friend and servant, 

CHARLES ANDERSON. 



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